2013–14 Grand Rapids Griffins season

The 2013–14 Grand Rapids Griffins season was the franchise's 13th season in the American Hockey League.

2013–14 Grand Rapids Griffins
Division	2nd Midwest Division
Conference	1st Western Conference
2013–14 record	46–23–2–5
Home record	21–12–0–2
Road record	23–10–2–3
Goals for	238
Goals against	187
Team information
General manager	Dan DeVos
Coach	Jeff Blashill
Assistant coach	Jim Paek Spiros Anastas
Captain	Jeff Hoggan
Alternate captains	Brennan Evans Nathan Paetsch
Arena	Van Andel Arena
Average attendance	8,220 (75.9%) Total: 312,355
Team leaders
Goals	Teemu Pulkkinen (31)
Assists	Adam Almqvist (49)
Points	Teemu Pulkkinen (59)
Penalty minutes	Brennan Evans (111)
Plus/minus	(+) Mitch Callahan (+23) (−) Martin Frk (−12)
Wins	Tom McCollum (24)
Goals against average	Petr Mrázek (2.10)

Off-season

Following the Grand Rapids Griffins' Calder Cup-winning season last year, several of the players were called up to the Detroit Red Wings, including forwards Joakim Andersson and Tomáš Tatar; and defensemen Danny DeKeyser, Brian Lashoff and Brendan Smith. There was a great deal of roster movements between the two teams throughout the off-season, with some players getting repeatedly called back and forth, which meant Griffins coach Jeff Blashill could not finalize the roster or power play and penalty kill teams until just before the regular season began. Ten of the 20 players on Detroit's starting roster had played with Grand Rapids the previous year. Other Griffins departures included defenseman Chad Billins, goaltender Jordan Pearce, and forwards Jan Muršak, and Francis Paré. Winger Cory Emmerton began the regular season with Detroit after Patrick Eaves was placed on long-term injured reserve.

Gustav Nyquist was sent down to Grand Rapids from Detroit, but was not expected to remain there long. The move was primarily intended to keep the team under its salary cap, since Nyquist could be transferred without having to clear waivers. The Griffins signed several new skaters during the off-season, giving the roster a mix of veterans and young prospects. New additions included goaltender Jared Coreau; defensemen Alexey Marchenko, Richard Nedomlel and Xavier Ouellet; forwards Martin Frk, David McIntyre and Marek Tvrdon. McIntyre was the only one of the seven with previous American Hockey League experience. The team re-signed defensemen Nathan Paetsch and Brennan Evans, and forwards Triston Grant and team captain Jeff Hoggan, as well as several skaters who had played only a handful of games the previous year, including center Calle Järnkrok, winger Teemu Pulkkinen, and defenseman Ryan Sproul.

After a training camp that began September 23 at Van Andel Arena, the Griffins played a pair of off-season games against the Lake Erie Monsters, although eight of their players were absent due to a call-up to Detroit. Grand Rapids won the first game 3–2 in a shootout, with Frk scoring the sole shootout goal and McCollum making 36 saves and stopped five shootout shots. Lake Erie won the second game in a 2–0 shutout. Center Landon Ferraro, the team's third-highest score the previous year, suffered a foot injury during the off-season that kept him out of the first two weeks of the regular season.

Regular season

On October 4, the Grand Rapids Griffins won their season opener against the Rochester Americans by a score of 8–1, setting a franchise record for largest margin of victory in a season debut, breaking the previous record of four goals in 2004. Gustav Nyquist and Adam Almquist led the scoring with three points apiece.

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2013–14 Pre-season Game Log: 1–1–0–0
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record 1 September 281 Lake Erie 2–3 Grand Rapids SO McCollum 1–0–0–0 2 September 292 Grand Rapids 0–2 Lake Erie Coreau 1–1–0–0 ^ Game played at Compuware Arena in Plymouth Township, Michigan ^ Game played at WFCU Centre in Windsor, Ontario

Regular season

2013–14 Regular season Game Log
October: 5–2–1–1 (Home: 1–2–0–0 ; Road: 4–0–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 1 October 4 Grand Rapids 8–1 Rochester McCollum 6,500 1–0–0–0 2 Gamesheet 2 October 5 Grand Rapids 3–4 Toronto OT Coreau 6,525 1–0–1–0 3 Gamesheet 3 October 12 Grand Rapids 4–3 Hamilton SO Mrazek 3,416 2–0–1–0 5 Gamesheet 4 October 18 Milwaukee 3–2 Grand Rapids Mrazek 10,834 2–1–1–0 5 Gamesheet 5 October 19 Grand Rapids 5–4 Rockford SO Mrazek 6,202 2–1–1–1 6 Gamesheet 6 October 25 Charlotte 5–0 Grand Rapids Mrazek 5,494 2–2–1–1 6 Gamesheet 7 October 26 Grand Rapids 3–2 Chicago McCollum 4,484 3–2–1–1 8 Gamesheet 8 October 27 Grand Rapids 3–2 Iowa McCollum 3,825 4–2–1–1 10 Gamesheet 9 October 30 Charlotte 2–5 Grand Rapids Mrazek 2,974 5–2–1–1 12 Gamesheet
November: 10–2–0–0 (Home: 5–0–0–0 ; Road: 5–2–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 10 November 1 Grand Rapids 6–4 Lake Erie McCollum 7,044 6–2–1–1 14 Gamesheet 11 November 3 Grand Rapids 3–1 Rockford McCollum 3,033 7–2–1–1 16 Gamesheet 12 November 6 Rockford 2–6 Grand Rapids McCollum 6,118 8–2–1–1 18 Gamesheet 13 November 8 Grand Rapids 6–1 Hamilton Mrazek 3,088 9–2–1–1 20 Gamesheet 14 November 13 Grand Rapids 1–2 Milwaukee McCollum 2,659 9–3–1–1 20 Gamesheet 15 November 15 Rockford 3–5 Grand Rapids Mrazek 9,260 10–3–1–1 22 Gamesheet 16 November 16 Grand Rapids 3–4 Chicago McCollum 9,226 10–4–1–1 22 Gamesheet 17 November 20 Milwaukee 0–5 Grand Rapids Mrazek 5,056 11–4–1–1 24 Gamesheet 18 November 22 Grand Rapids 2–1 Iowa Mrazek 7,580 12–4–1–1 26 Gamesheet 19 November 23 Grand Rapids 2–1 Chicago Mrazek 7,228 13–4–1–1 28 Gamesheet 20 November 29 Texas 4–5 Grand Rapids Mrazek 8,288 14–4–1–1 30 Gamesheet 21 November 30 Texas 1–5 Grand Rapids McCollum 5,749 15–4–1–1 32 Gamesheet
December: 7–4–0–1 (Home: 5–2–0–1 ; Road: 2–2–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 22 December 6 Rochester 1–5 Grand Rapids Mrazek 6,901 16–4–1–1 34 Gamesheet 23 December 7 Rochester 1–3 Grand Rapids Mrazek 5,115 17–4–1–1 36 Gamesheet 24 December 11 Chicago 4–2 Grand Rapids McCollum 6,290 17–5–1–1 36 Gamesheet 25 December 13 Milwaukee 2–4 Grand Rapids McCollum 5,976 18–5–1–1 38 Gamesheet 26 December 14 Milwaukee 0–5 Grand Rapids McCollum 8,002 19–5–1–1 40 Gamesheet 27 December 18 Grand Rapids 2–1 Iowa OT McCollum 3,619 20–5–1–1 42 Gamesheet 28 December 20 Rockford 2–3 Grand Rapids OT McCollum 8,269 21–5–1–1 44 Gamesheet 29 December 21 Grand Rapids 2–3 Chicago McCollum 5,724 21–6–1–1 44 Gamesheet 30 December 26 Grand Rapids 1–4 Milwaukee McCollum 5,197 21–7–1–1 44 Gamesheet 31 December 27 Grand Rapids 4–2 Rockford McCollum 4,105 22–7–1–1 46 Gamesheet 32 December 301 Toronto 4–2 Grand Rapids SO McCollum 20,337 22–7–1–2 47 Gamesheet 33 December 31 Toronto 3–1 Grand Rapids McCollum 10,834 22–8–1–2 47 Gamesheet ^ Game played at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan
January: 6–5–1–0 (Home: 5–3–0–0 ; Road: 1–2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 34 January 3 Chicago 1–3 Grand Rapids McCollum 6,963 23–8–1–2 49 Gamesheet 35 January 4 Grand Rapids 2–4 Rockford Coreau 4,145 23–9–1–2 49 Gamesheet 36 January 8 Rockford 2–4 Grand Rapids McCollum 3,672 24–9–1–2 51 Gamesheet 37 January 10 Iowa 3–2 Grand Rapids McCollum 7,285 24–10–1–2 51 Gamesheet 38 January 11 Iowa 1–4 Grand Rapids McCollum 9,360 25–10–1–2 53 Gamesheet 39 January 15 Chicago 1–3 Grand Rapids McCollum 5,493 26–10–1–2 55 Gamesheet 40 January 17 Abbotsford 0–3 Grand Rapids McCollum 8,098 27–10–1–2 57 Gamesheet 41 January 18 Abbotsford 3–2 Grand Rapids McCollum 9,170 27–11–1–2 57 Gamesheet 42 January 24 Grand Rapids 4–6 Texas Coreau 4,639 27–12–1–2 57 Gamesheet 43 January 25 Grand Rapids 4–1 Texas McCollum 6,863 28–12–1–2 59 Gamesheet 44 January 26 Grand Rapids 5–6 San Antonio OT Coreau 4,995 28–12–2–2 60 Gamesheet 45 January 31 Chicago 6–2 Grand Rapids McCollum 10,834 28–13–2–2 60 Gamesheet
February: 6–4–0–1 (Home: 2–3–0–1 ; Road: 4–1–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 46 February 1 Grand Rapids 3–2 Milwaukee SO Mrazek 7,621 29–13–2–2 62 Gamesheet 47 February 5 Lake Erie 4–0 Grand Rapids Mrazek 6,346 29–14–2–2 62 Gamesheet 48 February 7 Grand Rapids 1–4 Toronto Mrazek 5,237 29–15–2–2 62 Gamesheet 49 February 8 Grand Rapids 5–1 Rochester McCollum 17,968 30–15–2–2 64 Gamesheet 50 February 14 San Antonio 2–1 Grand Rapids SO McCollum 6,724 30–15–2–3 65 Gamesheet 51 February 15 San Antonio 3–0 Grand Rapids Mrazek 10,018 30–16–2–3 65 Gamesheet 52 February 21 Oklahoma City 4–2 Grand Rapids McCollum 10,834 30–17–2–3 65 Gamesheet 53 February 22 Oklahoma City 3–4 Grand Rapids Mrazek 8,254 31–17–2–3 67 Gamesheet 54 February 23 Milwaukee 0–1 Grand Rapids SO Mrazek 8,451 32–17–2–3 69 Gamesheet 55 February 26 Grand Rapids 5–1 Milwaukee Mrazek 3,002 33–17–2–3 71 Gamesheet 56 February 28 Grand Rapids 4–3 Abbotsford SO Mrazek 3,068 34–17–2–3 73 Gamesheet
March: 9–3–0–1 (Home: 3–1–0–0 ; Road: 6–2–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 57 March 1 Grand Rapids 5–2 Abbotsford Mrazek 2,774 35–17–2–3 75 Gamesheet 58 March 5 Chicago 2–4 Grand Rapids Mrazek 5,343 36–17–2–3 77 Gamesheet 59 March 7 Iowa 0–4 Grand Rapids Mrazek 8,594 37–17–2–3 79 Gamesheet 60 March 8 Iowa 3–1 Grand Rapids McCollum 10,834 37–18–2–3 79 Gamesheet 61 March 13 Grand Rapids 1–2 San Antonio SO McCollum 6,772 37–18–2–4 80 Gamesheet 62 March 14 Grand Rapids 3–2 Oklahoma City McCollum 3,294 38–18–2–4 82 Gamesheet 63 March 15 Grand Rapids 4–3 Oklahoma City McCollum 4,494 39–18–2–4 84 Gamesheet 64 March 21 Grand Rapids 4–1 Iowa McCollum 6,547 40–18–2–4 86 Gamesheet 65 March 22 Grand Rapids 3–2 Iowa Mrazek 6,359 41–18–2–4 88 Gamesheet 66 March 23 Grand Rapids 2–6 Chicago Mrazek 11,388 41–19–2–4 88 Gamesheet 67 March 28 Grand Rapids 4–5 Rockford McCollum 5,223 41–20–2–4 88 Gamesheet 68 March 29 Rockford 1–4 Grand Rapids Mrazek 10,834 42–20–2–4 90 Gamesheet 69 March 30 Grand Rapids 3–1 Milwaukee Mrazek 8,090 43–20–2–4 92 Gamesheet
April: 3–3–0–1 (Home: 2–2–0–0 ; Road: 1–1–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Gamesheet 70 April 2 Iowa 1–6 Grand Rapids Mrazek 8,077 44–20–2–4 94 Gamesheet 71 April 4 Hamilton 4–1 Grand Rapids Mrazek 10,834 44–21–2–4 94 Gamesheet 72 April 5 Hamilton 1–2 Grand Rapids SO McCollum 10,006 45–21–2–4 96 Gamesheet 73 April 10 Grand Rapids 0–3 Charlotte Mrazek 6,709 45–22–2–4 96 Gamesheet 74 April 13 Grand Rapids 2–1 Charlotte McCollum 8,002 46–22–2–4 98 Gamesheet 75 April 18 Lake Erie 4–2 Grand Rapids Mrazek 10,834 46–23–2–4 98 Gamesheet 76 April 19 Grand Rapids 3–4 Lake Erie SO McCollum 14,064 46–22–2–5 99 Gamesheet
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1-point)

Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Regular Season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Teemu Pulkkinen*	71	31	28	59	18	34
Adam Almquist	73	4	49	53	9	56
Cory Emmerton	53	16	30	46	17	14
Mitch Callahan	70	26	18	44	23	51
Andrej Nestrasil	70	16	20	36	0	24
Calle Jarnkrok‡	57	13	23	36	19	14
Tomas Jurco‡	32	13	19	32	10	14
Ryan Sproul*	72	11	21	32	0	49
Landon Ferraro	70	15	16	31	−3	52
Jeff Hoggan	59	14	17	31	1	31
Nathan Paetsch	68	4	27	31	18	40
David McIntyre	64	8	13	21	−1	45
Gustav Nyquist‡	15	7	14	21	6	6
Riley Sheahan‡	31	8	10	18	−2	12
Jordin Tootoo	51	6	12	18	−1	104
Alexey Marchenko*	49	3	15	18	11	14
Brennan Evans	68	4	13	17	14	111
Xavier Ouellet	70	4	13	17	3	22
Triston Grant	51	6	10	16	6	103
Luke Glendening‡	18	5	7	12	8	18
Martin Frk	50	3	9	12	−12	22
Trevor Parkes	36	6	3	9	5	27
Nick Jensen	45	0	9	9	12	8
Patrick Eaves‡	8	4	2	6	1	8
Louis-Marc Aubry	38	2	2	4	−1	16
Andreas Athanasiou	2	1	2	3	0	0
Travis Novak‡	9	1	2	3	3	6
Alden Hirschfeld	13	1	1	2	3	7
Gleason Fournier	25	0	2	2	4	4
Colin Campbell	13	1	0	1	−2	5
Marek Tvrdon‡	1	0	0	0	0	0
Mattias Backman	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Darren Helm‡	2	0	0	0	0	0
Mattias Janmark-Nylen	2	0	0	0	1	2
Mikael Samuelsson‡	2	0	0	0	−4	0
Richard Nedomlel	3	0	0	0	−2	2
Zach Nastasiuk	5	0	0	0	−2	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Teemu Pulkkinen	10	5	6	11	8	10
Cory Emmerton	10	2	7	9	4	2
Tomas Jurco	8	5	2	7	−5	11
Andrej Nestrasil	10	4	2	6	4	4
Mattias Backman	10	1	5	6	−6	2
Jeff Hoggan	10	4	1	5	−4	12
Ryan Sproul	10	2	3	5	2	4
Mitch Callahan	8	1	4	5	−5	6
Riley Sheahan	8	1	4	5	−5	0
Nathan Paetsch	10	0	5	5	2	4
Landon Ferraro	9	1	2	3	−4	2
David McIntyre	10	1	1	2	0	9
Trevor Parkes	3	1	0	1	2	12
Gleason Fournier	1	0	1	1	2	2
Jordin Tootoo	4	0	1	1	−3	4
Andreas Athanasiou	6	0	1	1	2	6
Mattias Janmark-Nylen	6	0	1	1	−1	0
Zach Nastasiuk	6	0	1	1	−1	0
Nick Jensen	10	0	1	1	−3	2
Adam Almquist	1	0	0	0	0	0
Colin Campbell	3	0	0	0	1	2
Martin Frk	4	0	0	0	−4	0
Triston Grant	4	0	0	0	0	4
Xavier Ouellet	8	0	0	0	−5	4
Brennan Evans	10	0	0	0	2	30

Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV = Saves; SA = Shots against; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; G = Goals; A = Assists; PIM = Penalty minutes

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SV	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Petr Mrazek	32	1829:52	22	9	64	2.10	774	838	.924	3	0	2	2
Tom McCollum	46	2560:46	24	12	98	2.30	1158	1256	.922	2	0	0	6
Jared Coreau	5	205:06	0	4	15	4.39	103	118	.873	0	0	1	0
Totals		4622:56	46	25	182	2.36	2035	2217	.918	5	0	3	8

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SV	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Petr Mrazek	10	599:32	5	5	28	2.80	288	316	.911	0	0	0	0
Tom McCollum	1	28:01	0	0	2	4.28	14	16	.875	0	0	0	0
Totals		632:49	5	5	31	2.94	302	333	.907	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining team. Stats reflect time with the team only.
^‡Left the team mid-season
^*Rookie

Final roster

Updated April 19, 2014

Team roster

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace	Contract
5		Adam Almqvist	D	L	23	2012	Jönköping, Sweden	Red Wings
47		Andreas Athanasiou	LW	L	19	2012	Woodbridge, Ontario	Red Wings
22		Louis-Marc Aubry	C	L	22	2010	Arthabaska, Quebec	Red Wings
46		Mattias Backman	D	L	21	2013	Linköping, Sweden	Red Wings
15		Mitch Callahan	RW	R	22	2011	Whittier, California	Red Wings
32		Colin Campbell	F	R	23	2013	Pickering, Ontario	Red Wings
8		Willie Coetzee	RW	R	23	2009	Johannesburg, South Africa	Red Wings
31		Jared Coreau	G	L	22	2013	Perth, Ontario	Red Wings
44		Brennan Evans (A)	D	L	32	2012	North Battleford, Saskatchewan	Griffins
18		Cory Emmerton	C	L	25	2006	St. Thomas, Ontario	Red Wings
29		Landon Ferraro	C	R	22	2010	Trail, British Columbia	Red Wings
27		Martin Frk	RW	R	20	2012	Pelhřimov, Czech Republic	Red Wings
20		Gleason Fournier	D	L	22	2011	Saint-Fabien, Quebec	Red Wings
23		Triston Grant	LW	L	30	2010	Neepawa, Manitoba	Griffins
10		Jeff Hoggan (C)	LW	L	36	2011	Hope, British Columbia	Griffins
38		Mattias Janmark-Nylen	C	L	21	2013	Stockholm, Sweden	Griffins
14		Nick Jensen	D	R	23	2009	Rogers, Minnesota	Red Wings
3		Alexey Marchenko	D	R	22	2011	Moscow, Russia	Red Wings
30		Tom McCollum	G	L	24	2009	Cambria, New York	Red Wings
26		David McIntyre	C	L	27	2013	Pefferlaw, Ontario	Griffins
34		Petr Mrazek	G	L	22	2012	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia	Red Wings
37		Zach Nastasiuk	RW	R	19	2013	Barrie, Ontario	Red Wings
42		Richard Nedomlel	D	L	20	2011	Prague, Czech Republic	Red Wings
11		Andrej Nestrasil	RW	L	23	2011	Prague, Czechoslovakia	Red Wings
17		Max Nicastro	D	R	24	2012	Thousand Oaks, California	Red Wings
16		Xavier Ouellet	D	L	20	2011	Bayonne, France	Red Wings
4		Nathan Paetsch (A)	D	L	31	2012	LeRoy, Saskatchewan	Griffins
21		Trevor Parkes	LW	R	22	2011	Fort Erie, Ontario	Red Wings
1		Jake Paterson	G	L	19	2013	Mississauga, Ontario	Red Wings
6		Teemu Pulkkinen	RW	R	22	2013	Vantaa, Finland	Red Wings
7		Ryan Sproul	D	R	21	2011	Toronto, Ontario	Red Wings
22		Jordin Tootoo	RW	R	30	2012	Churchill, Manitoba	Red Wings

References

External links

• Grand Rapids Griffins official site